My FIX for Judgement Day, totally AU and I unfortunately own nothing but if I did I would not have to be writing this story now. Please be kind it is my first NCIS fic.
The atmosphere in the small tavern could have been described on
a better day as being romantic. The small establishment was lit by
stained glass lamps hanging over each booth that were separated
by high backs to provide the patrons with the privacy they sought
There was soft music provided by an antique looking jukebox
but fortunately the tunes being played were not as outdated as the
machine playing them.
Several couples were slow dancing on a makeshift dance floor, which was really just an area where the owners had for whatever reason not put in any booths or tables.
On this day October 28, 2009 the dimly lit room proved to be more depressing than romantic
.
Possibly because of the date or possibly because of the older man at the bar who had arrived shortly after noon and remained slowly nursing bourbans.
It was now after seven in the evening and aside from the occasional trip to the mens room Leroy Jethro Gibbs had not moved from his stool nor had he spoken with anyone save the bartender.
Ziva watched him from a distance unwilling to disturb him and quite content to just observe and be back up if necessary. She of all people knew what today was and she also knew the significance of this date.
Ziva found it odd that Gibbs never mourned her on the anniversary of her death yet on her birth date he "celebrated" if one could call what he did celebrating.
She would have been forty two years old today, still so young especially for someone who has been dead for nearly two years.
Ziva sighs and wonders to herself why as humans we do these things to ourselves. Why wait until it is an impossibility to celebrate her, why did he not spend her birthdays with her while she lived?
Ziva herself remembered a few especially fun filled, booze laden October days she and Jenny had spent celebrating. One stood out in her mind more clearly.
October 28, 2004, Jenny and Ziva had just wrapped up an op in Istanbul and were now in an especially loud rock club in London.
"Ya know Ziva I have an opportunity to go back to the states , to D.C. actually, in the next few months and I might be able to pull some strings and bring you along with me" Jenny said while looking at her good friend and "sister" intently.
Ziva was startled that her friend was even considering going back to her home much less considering taking her along.
"How is that possible Jenny? I am Mossad and you are NCIS, my father will never allow it" Ziva replied, excited at the thought of getting away from Mossad and her father but also grounded enough in reality to ever dream of it as a possibility.
Jenny smilled at her good friend and Ziva could tell by the mischievous glint in her eyes that she had something in mind.
"Don't you worry Ziva, just leave it to me" She said between sips of her bourbon and then went on to say "Hey, have I ever let you down?" And Ziva had to admit that no Jenny had never let her down.
Ziva was startled from her daydream by a hand on her arm and as she moved her hand under her coat to her sidearm she was met by the blue eyes of the man she had come here to "protect". If only she could protect him from himself.
"Hey, you ready to take me home or do you want to sit here and daydream some more" Gibbs said his voice perhaps a bit gruffer from the bourbon he had consumed.
"Let us go then if you are quite done for the evening" Ziva replied watching him from the corner of her eyes. His eyes were red rimmed and blood shot, possibly from the alcohol or possibly from something else she wasn't sure.
" I too have my rituals for this day" Ziva spoke for the first time since leaving the bar and smiled inwardly as Gibbs seemed a bit startled, if not by her voice then by her knowledge of what this day symbolized for him.
"Oh yeah?" Gibbs muttered
"Yes, you see when Jenny and I were partners we were all the other had, we celebrated birthdays, holidays, Saturdays or any day really, but we always did it together."
"After her…after her death Sundays were hard for me because she and I always had Sunday brunch together if we were not busy working.
" Actually towards the end the whole team spent Sundays together, except you, Abby said you always turned her down" Ziva looked at him intently, she had pulled to a stop on a familiar street in Georgetown and Gibbs had just realized where they were.
"Why are we here Ziva?" Gibbs asked in an almost whisper
"This is my ritual for her birthday Gibbs, I sit here and remember all the really good times Jenny and I had together."
Ziva continued to speak but all Gibbs could do was look at the burned out shell of her home, the home he destroyed because he couldn't bear to think of anyone else living in her cherished space.
" Even after she became Director I would come over to her house for dinner and a movie and after a while Abby would tag along, after you left for Mexico we would all show up on her doorstep like orphans looking for food and comfort and she always provided it and never once did she show us her own pain"
After taking a steadying breath and wiping, what to Gibbs looked like, tears from her eyes Ziva continued.
"After the whole Le Grenouille thing it was strained for a while but one night Abby decided to get her "family" back together even if mommy and daddy couldn't be" Ziva laughed to herself at Abby's antics in trying to make everyone in her "family" happy.
Gibbs paused for a moment and considered what Ziva had just told him, basically that Jenny had taken his team under her wing and provided them with comfort, love, and support and he had been none the wiser.
"Why wasn't I ever told?" He asked and to Ziva he sounded angry
"No one thought it really mattered to you Gibbs, you were with Colonel Mann and we all saw how that hurt Jenny , she loved you ya know?, anyway we were a family but like a divorced family where mom and dad did not talk and just divided the children up for weekends and holidays. You had us all week at work but on days off we went to Moms"
Ziva exhaled slowly not sure if this was the right thing to do , she did not want to add to Gibb's pain but she felt like shaking him to get something out of him and break that damned control.
Gibbs sat silently in Zivas car and thought about all that Ziva had told him.
Jenny had constantly surprised him , and it should not have been a surprise that she had taken in his four wayward "Children". There had always been a kind, gentle side to Jen, she had shown him that side many times over the years.
He let out a shaky breath and spoke so softly that Ziva had to strain to hear.
"If I could go back and change anything Ziva , I would have gone after her after she left me in Paris and I wouldn't have taken no for an answer, she would have had children of her own and I would be inside that house right now with the woman I love"
Ziva thought to herself how he had said love and not loved in the past tense and then thought of something Jenny herself had told her one hot moonless night in Cairo
"You know Ziva, there are some species of animals that mate for life. Like wolves for example they may go off in the spring after the pups are born, but they always return to the same den year after year"
Ziva had not been sure at the time what jenny had been trying to tell her but now tonight in this car watching her boss grieve the woman he loved she is almost certain that Jennifer Shepard and Leroy Jethro Gibbs had mated for life.
